The Niece Ethan Had Never Met
Chapter 16 - The Niece Ethan Had Never Met
Lily Reed was not seriously hurt.
She had collapsed during soccer practice from dehydration and a severe viral infection.
By the time Ethan reached the hospital, she was awake and complaining about the taste of electrolyte drinks.
Nathan sat beside the bed looking more frightened than Ethan had ever seen him.
Lily looked at Ethan.
“So you’re him.”
Ethan blinked.
“Him?”
“My uncle.”
Nathan rubbed his face.
“I was going to explain this better.”
Lily smiled.
“You look like Grandpa.”
The word stopped Ethan.
He sat beside the bed.
“You knew about Edward?”
“Dad showed me pictures.”
Nathan looked uncomfortable.
Lily continued.
“He said Grandpa made mistakes but still loved us.”
Ethan glanced at Nathan.
It would have been easy for Nathan to make Edward a villain.
He had every reason.
Instead, he had given his daughter a more complicated truth.
That mattered.
Lauren arrived with soup, clean clothes, and three phone chargers.
Lily liked her immediately.
By evening, the four of them were laughing over a terrible hospital television show.
Ethan suddenly realized something.
This was what had been stolen from them.
Not only money.
Ordinary years.
Birthdays.
Holiday dinners.
Arguments over nothing.
A niece who should not have had to meet her uncle in a hospital room at age ten.
When Lily fell asleep, Ethan and Nathan stepped into the hallway.
Nathan stared through the glass.
“I don’t care about the trust anymore.”
Ethan leaned against the wall.
“I know.”
“I mean it.”
“I know.”
Nathan looked at him.
“I spent years thinking if Edward had acknowledged me publicly, everything would have been different.”
“Would it?”
“No idea.”
Ethan smiled faintly.
“That’s honest.”
Nathan laughed.
Then Ethan said, “When this is over, we should reopen the garage.”
Nathan turned.
“What?”
“Not as a monument to Dad. As something new.”
Nathan studied him.
“What kind of something?”
Ethan thought about the veterans’ fund.
About people coming home with nowhere to place all the parts of themselves they had carried back.
“A shop,” he said. “Mechanics, training, apprenticeships. Veterans. Kids who need a start.”
Nathan’s eyes brightened.
“That could work.”
Ethan nodded.
“For both boys.”
May you like
Nathan smiled.
“For both boys.”
